the big 2-3

My birthday was last Monday and I turned 23...so old. The weird thing is, I don't feel a bit different than the day I turned 16 or 20 or even 10, but the sound of the word "twenty-three" just sounds old.

But, considering it was my first birthday where I was actually away from home and from family (one of the great benefits of having a Thanksgiving birthday...) it was incredible! It started out Sunday night with Brendan surprising me and taking me to see the Rockettes (which were amaaaazing!!) and then out to dinner. Then, I was surprised at work first thing Monday morning with LA throwing homemade confetti in my face and shouting 'happy birthday!' At lunch, LA and I had plans to go out together, which was nothing unusual, but when I got in line at Goodburger, Pamcakes jumped out and shouted 'happy birthday' which was another great surprise! (They were all trying to prove me wrong with my statement of hating surprises.) After work, LA and I hopped a cab to a "destination unknown"...thankfully, I avoided the blindfold by promising I wouldn't listen when she told the cab driver where to go. We ended up at Serendipity, one of my favorite yet very touristy restaurants in NYC, but PERFECT for a birthday celebration! Dinner was great and great company. After I got back to my apartment, I thought all of the birthday celebrations were over until an unexpected doorbell rang and Brendan had come down to surprise me so that we could hang out on my actual birthday. I couldn't get over how many times I had been surprised (and actually liked it) and was so thankful for all the love I felt from friends and family on my b'day. Thanks to EVERYONE for all of the phone calls, text messages, and well wishes on my special day :) It was one of the best birthdays ever!

outside of Serendipity waiting for our reservations

traditional Serendipity pic - we can't go there without taking one of these!

roomies! and aren't the Christmas decorations so beautiful?!

me, Pamcakes, Lara, and Carrie

I wish I knew what LA was laughing so hard about...

I think this is when the waitors were about to sing happy birthday to Karen.

love this pic!

peanut butter frozen hot chocolate, all gone.

Carrie, LA, Lara, me, Pamela, and Victoria

CAN'T walk past this door without taking a picture. I think I have one from every season...

happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on my FAVORITE holiday of the year! Before I posted this, I was thinking about my Thanksgiving last year and remembered that I was blogging way back then. Check out last year's blog post to see how the things I was thankful for (and anticipating) then are total reality now! And I'm still just as thankful for them... it's fun to look back and see the way that God works.

upon my arrival at the airport in ATL

Mom: "you brought your HUGE suitcase? I guess I was right when I said you were a diva."

Me: "a DIVA? that's the only suitcase I have in New York, so that's what I packed in..."

Mom: "well, it's ok because they say Sarah Palin is a diva... so you're in good company."

reminiscing the days of old...

I've been meaning to put these pictures up for a while but have just kept forgetting. Last October (2007) I came for a weekend visit to the city to be reunited with half of the "the group" from the summer before. We had a fab photo shoot in Central Park, and the three of us who live in NYC now decided to make it a tradition. The first weekend in November, we took over Central Park!


Then & Now:




Then & Now:



Then & Now:



Then & Now:



Then & Now:

the south is calling

4 DAYS (and counting!)

"those X-acto knives are vicious"

...that is a direct quote from the ER doctor that pulled my flapping finger off today after gushing blood (and that's NO exaggeration) for 2 1/2 solid hours. And I'm blaming it all on Obama. I was in the interiors library at work cutting down some VCT tile samples for a presentation board when another designer across the table started talking about a recent Obama interview. I looked up to hear what great and wonderful things she was going to say and I was going to have to endure while simultaneously diverting my attention from the matter at hand - I forgot I had an X-acto knife box cutter in my hand in which I was applying an extremely large amount of pressure to, to cut through a very thick piece of flooring material. I'll spare all the bloody, gory details in which I almost fainted and almost caused about 14 other coworkers to almost faint as well. Needless to say, I ended up in a New York City emergency room for a couple of hours with a prisoner on crutches being followed by two policeman with handcuffs and chains, a homeless man and a few other less than fortunate people. As I looked around, it suddenly hit me, I'm not in Alabama anymore...

Three hours and a tetanus shot later, all I have to show is a big, ugly white bandaged finger!

more than I bargained for...

this is the weather forecast for the upcoming week here in NYC. did I really sign up for this?! it's ONLY the middle of November...

10-Day Business Travel Forecast for  New York, NY (10005) Weather for your life  Weather Related to...    Aches & Pains Air Quality & Pollution Allergies & Pollen Boat & Beach Cold & Flu Fitness & Exercise Flights & Business Travel Golf Weather Health Home Improvement Interstate Driving Forecast Lawn & Garden Outdoor Recreation Pets Schoolday Weather Ski Conditions Skin Protection Sporting Events Vacation & Travel Guide Wedding Planner   [ English | Metric ]  Printable Forecast Forecast Conditions High °F Low °F Precip. Chance         High Temperatures  Low Temperatures  Precipitation  Wind Speed        Mon Nov 17 Mostly Sunny 46° 33° 20% 46°F Tue Nov 18 Partly Cloudy 42° 28° 20% 42°F Airport Conditions Wed Nov 19 Sunny 38° 29° 20% 38°F Thu Nov 20 Rain / Snow Showers 39° 26° 30% 39°F Fri Nov 21 Sunny 40° 28° 20% 40°F Sat Nov 22 Rain / Snow Showers 39° 31° 30% 39°F Sun Nov 23 Partly Cloudy 40° 35° 20% 40°F Mon Nov 24 Showers 42° 32° 30% 42°F Airport Conditions Tue Nov 25 Scattered Snow Showers 42° 30° 60% 42°F Last Updated Nov 17, 12:59 AM ET Printable Forecast Details Video Text Averages

celebrity sighting no. 6

and the last celebrity sighting is by far my favorite of all! Ok, so I knew I lived in Gotham City and all, but I didn't know that Batman actually came out during the day... and especially to a place as populated as Central Park. But here's the proof:

celebrity sighting no. 5

who knew celebrities hung out in Central Park? although, I would beg to differ that this woman is actually a full blown CELEBRITY, I still knew who she was when I passed by her, which is more than anyone can say about me when they pass by me, so I guess that says something about her status... either way, my strong aversion to her still stands.

you can't see her face, but the red-headed woman on the right is Kathy Griffith.

celebrity sighting no. 4

so I haven't been updating like I should on my recent celebrity sightings... the first one was a few weeks ago and was pretty exciting for me (if you know me at all) because you know how near-and-dear this man's show is to my heart. I just wish Kelly Ripa had been with him when I spotted he and his wife Joy...

Regis Philbin!!!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

the sad thing is, this picture was taken on Halloween night. Nevertheless, isn't that a beautiful sight?!

ps -

the pictures in the posting below are not in order from the weekend and it really bothers me...but I can't figure out an easy way to get them in order, so just pretend they are if it bothers you as much as it does me...

a lot like Alabama

the second to last weekend in October, our fellowship group from Redeemer went on a retreat to New Hampshire and stayed at Brendan's parents house. We went in order to be able to see the beautiful fall foliage, and it WAS beautiful even though, according to Brendan, we missed the peak. It really reminded me a lot of Alabama in the way it looked. I can't decide if that is because it just wasn't a city like I've become so accustomed to or if it really is similar in nature and look to the Heart of Dixie. On Saturday night we went to Boston to have dinner and then explored the city a little after that. I loved Boston, and especially following the "freedom trail" that led us straight to Paul Revere's house!

                                   Me, Pamela and Carrie in Boston on Saturday night

Pamela and the "freedom trail"

Me and Brendan after dinner

Our group in front of Mike's Pastry...only the best pastries in Boston

(check it out - www.mikespastry.com - you can get it delivered!)

       Trying to lift the heavy chain. (the one the boys could barely lift...)

Our whoopie pie and cheesecake!

Our group at Mine Falls

The girls with the beautiful foliage!

          Brendan's first trip to McDonald's since 1991. (I'm trying to break him...)

Pamcakes and I snuggling before she left from New Hampshire to head back to NYC

a few sporadic

a few pictures from October from various outings...

Lara's birthday party, hipster style

Picnic in Central Park with my '08 Grads fellowship group

                                                        Welcome back to NYC, Jess!!!

the next several posts are devoted to october and what I did during the month... a lot of pictures to update what a fun month it was!

how did this happen?

In case it hasn't been apparent, I've recently taken an involuntary blogging hiatus. Somehow recently (I have no idea how it's happened...) I've been finding myself going to bed later and later and getting up just as early. And the time in between, I still have no clue where it's all going. But after subtle snide comments posted on my blog from "M" (aka, Mom) claiming that she has no idea what's going on in my life because I haven't been updating my blog, I'm pushing through and getting back to it... I've missed it and hope I'll be back at it full time again. But just as a quick disclaimer, my mom does have a clue what's going on in my life and probably has a pretty good idea why I haven't been blogging as frequently.....

a sore thumb

...that's exactly what I stuck out like on Tuesday night at Rockefeller Center watching the election coverage. I still showed my support for the Grand Old Party, nevertheless, and even got to have my picture made with the Republican elephant.

Me and Kline with the Republican party elephant (not to be mistaken for the Alabama elephant...) This pic's a keeper...